Brown Trout on the Kinnie

Date: April 14^th 

Weather: 60’s sunny turning cloudy

Stream: Clear but low

Hatch: Yes, mayflies

Water Temp: Cold

Beer: New Glarus Road Slush Oatmeal Stout

Beautiful pool

            After my failure to catch a Steelhead on the shore, I needed to visit familiar ground and redeem myself. So far my fishing opportunities have been limited with a busy school schedule but after spending an afternoon looking for morels in St. Paul with my aunt and uncle I had to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. The Kinnickinnic or Kinnie as it is affectionately called has a soft spot in my heart. It’s a blue ribbon stream and rivals any stream in Montana, 6,000 trout per mile. It’s a beautiful river and it runs through some big canyons and beautiful forest in Western Wisconsin.

            The weather during the last week had been cold and dreary but today was beautiful, sunny and warm. The warmth had helped create conducive conditions for fishing, insects were hatching and trout were rising to sip bugs off the surface. Few things in nature are as beautiful as this scene. Previously, I had been fishing with a spinner because insects weren’t hatching and my nymphing skills on a fly rod are not as good.

First brown

            Typically on Saturday, the river is crowded and the best spots are limited. However, it was my lucky day, I didn’t see any other anglers and the river was mine apart from kayakers who are even worse. Brown trout spook easily and kayaks keep browns from biting for at least thirty minutes. Every time a kayak passes I have to move on to a new spot because the trout will quit biting.

Another brown

            I had only to walk a short distance till I saw some signs of activity on the river. Typically, I skip this spot because every other angler has stopped here and spooked the fish but not today. There were a few bugs coming off the water’s surface, it looked like some sort of mayfly but my identification skills are subpar, I can tell if it’s a mayfly or caddis but not the actual species like a March Brown or Dark Hendrickson. I picked out a 16 Parachute Adams, the bread-and-butter of every fly angler and had at it. My first few drifts produced nothing but at the end of a drift I had a bite. After a long winter my reflexes were slow so I missed it but I figured I would get another chance. Right after that, I had a hit. I thought I took a little too long setting the hook but I guess I got it just right. Fish on and it was pulling some line. It made a few nice runs but I was able to pull it in after a little fight. I was pumped; it was my first brown of the season and on the fly rod too.

Low water at honey hole

Spunky brown

            I fished the spot a little longer with no luck and headed upstream. The water on the Kinnie is so low, I’m still in disbelief. I said this about the Willow in a previous entry. Working my way upstream, I stopped at my honey hole. With low water I wasn’t expecting much but my second cast yielded a spunky little brown that fought harder that its size would suggest.

            Working my way upstream, I was delayed a bit by my search for morels and fiddleheads. Dead ash and elm trees with sloughing bark are the key sign for morels. I inspected each one I saw but found nothing. With such an early spring, I had to investigate. Same for fiddleheads, no shoots from last year’s dead fronds. 

Lime-green buds of spring

            My luck with trout ended quickly, a storm moved in and the trout quit biting. Reluctantly, I headed back to the parking lot to drink a beer and enjoy my day. Three trout, not bad for an evening but I was hoping for more with the hatch. I think I will have to make a return later this week because the morels will be popping.